Is this idea crazy or thinking-outside-the-box?ox

I was at the home of a potential client today. They have some tall trees at the rear of their home with newly-landscaped plants and a dry creek bed below the trees.
The trees have been in a wooded setting and consequently have sparse or no lower limbs. I commented that I would like to moonlight from one or two of the trees but that I wasn't seeing much branching that could filter the light.
The client said "couldn't you use some artificial foliage attached where you wanted on the tree?"

Now why didn't I think of that?

Phil Bauer
Starry Night Lighting
starrynightlighting.com"Always look on the bright side of life."

I was at the home of a potential client today. They have some tall trees at the rear of their home with newly-landscaped plants and a dry creek bed below the trees.
The trees have been in a wooded setting and consequently have sparse or no lower limbs. I commented that I would like to moonlight from one or two of the trees but that I wasn't seeing much branching that could filter the light.
The client said "couldn't you use some artificial foliage attached where you wanted on the tree?"

Now why didn't I think of that?

Click to expand...

It's an excellent idea and is something I used to do in theatrical lighting. The best way to do it is to use an eliptical spot light that has a slot for a leaf pattern (gobo). Unfortunately, no one's been able to design an affordable eliptical for outdoor use (too many moving parts).

The other way is to use a patterned "flag" on a flexishaft. I don't think anyone makes a leaf patterned flag but it wouldn't be too hard - just cut a leaf pattern into a piece of sheet metal and paint it black. The flag could be attached to the flexi-shaft and clamped to the fixture support.

The flag would need to be positioned at least a foot in front of the fixture. If the flag is too close then the patterns would be extremely blurry. Even at a foot out, the pattern will be blurry, but might still give a nice affect.

Here are links to flexishafts and flags (actually blips). BH also has suitable clamps.